Arctic Blast, Freeze-up to Follow Saturday's Midwest Snowstorm

Travel problems will not end when the first snowstorm of the season departs the Midwest. An arctic blast will lead to a freeze-up into Saturday night.

Arctic air rushing down into the Midwest on the backside of the snowstorm will cause temperatures to take a nose dive into Saturday night.

"Temperatures across the northern Plains and Upper Midwest will plunge into the teens and 20s," stated AccuWeather Meteorologist Becky Elliott, "with some locations across Iowa, southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois dipping into the single digits."

Brisk winds will lead to even lower AccuWeather RealFeel® temperatures, mainly east of the Mississippi River after sunset. Areas of blowing and drifting snow may also develop for a time, while the cold air triggers lake-effect snow downwind of the Great Lakes.

Saturday night will definitely feel more like the dead of winter than mid-November in the Midwest.

While residents will be bundling up before heading outdoors, cranking up the heat and making sure that the homeless and outdoor animals have adequate shelter, motorists will want to use caution even after the snow winds down.

"The frigid temperatures will cause areas of wet snow and slush to become frozen, creating icy travel conditions," stated Elliott.

The areas at greatest risk for the freeze-up lie from northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin to Lower Michigan and northwestern Ohio. This includes Chicago; Indianapolis; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Detroit and Grand Rapids, Michigan; and Toledo, Ohio.

Localized issues will expand back to southern South Dakota and northern Nebraska where the sun managed to melt the edges of snow piles during the day.

Bridges and overpasses will be the first to freeze, but wet spots on all untreated roads and sidewalks threaten to turn slick and treacherous.

Around Illinois and southern Wisconsin, the air will be so cold that salt may become ineffective to preventing icy conditions.

For points from central Michigan westward, temperatures will drop below freezing and the freeze-up risk will exist by dinnertime Saturday.

Cold Air on the Way

Icy patches may still be around Sunday morning before the sun comes out and warms the pavement.

Significant snowmelt is not expected around the Great Lakes on Sunday with temperatures being held 10 to 20 degrees below normal. From around northeastern Iowa to northern Indiana, temperatures are not expected to crack the 30-degree mark when highs in the 40s are more common.

Warmer air will begin to filter onto the Plains on Sunday, commencing a warming trend that will gradually spread eastward to the Midwest and East in the days leading up to Thanksgiving.

That means there will be little, if any, snow still on the ground for Thanksgiving.